Friday, March 21, 2014

Ever since I caught my first glimpse of vintage Bakelite Dangling Red Cherry jewelry on PBS's "Antiques Roadshow" I've been hooked and in love with them. The first piece I saw was a Red Cherries Necklace, followed by a Red Cherry Bar Brooch and bracelet, all incorporating red plastic chain links into the design and all with the most spectacular of SHINY finishes on the dangling cherries that caught the light when they moved.

My faux vintage Bakelite inspired Red Cherry Bracelet and other faux
Bakelite cherry jewelry pieces including both Short Stem and Long Stem Necklace versions
and various color chain options, earrings, and Cherry Bar
Brooch are available for sale at MelodyODesigns at Etsy

When I decided to design affordable reproductions of these pieces for sale I set out to find a varnish that would produce similar levels of shine on polymer clay. Like many polymer clay artisans of the time I ended up selecting Flecto Varathane, a glossy, very low odor, safe to use, scratch resistant, very transparent WATER-BASED (for indoor use only) polyurethane with easy cleanup that provided a fabulous shine when applied to polymer clay in a very specific way. I used it for fifteen years, using it primarily with PREMO brand polymer clay to create surfaces that have been mistaken for shiny Murano art glass.

I didn't always love using Varathane. It was only after the the basics of effectively using it on polymer clay were
initially so generously shared with me by polyclay artists extraordinaire, Sarajane
Helm of polyclay.comand Elaine Robitaille of craftgossip.com that I began to understand how to make it work for me. I've adapted their techniques over the years to meet my own
specific needs and will share the updated directions with you a bit later
in the article.

I think the key to successfully using Varathane to create a shiny surface on polymer clay lies in applying it in many VERY THIN coats that are each heat set to cure and also applying it with a moistened foam makeup sponge that has been well wrung out. I will be using the terms Varathane and varnish interchangeably in this article. The majority of my varnished pieces are made with PREMO brand polymer clay, so my suggestions are primarily meant for using with PREMO, though I think they also work on most other brands. However, because Varathane is water-based and Kato brand polymer clay is hydrophobic (tends to repel water), I have not had as much success using Varathane on Kato. I have read that giving Kato pieces a "wash" with alcohol first and then letting it dry before applying the varnish seems to increase the success rate a bit. However, I'm sensitive to alcohol, so I haven't tried it.

For the most glossy and glass-like finish I recommend first sanding through grits 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, buffing, and then washing and drying the the polymer clay piece first to get rid of any dust or sanded clay residue before applying varnish.

Dip a
foam makeup sponge (I use a wedge shaped one) into water and it wring out so that it's damp, but
not at all dripping. I keep a water-filled bowl on my work table for
easy access. Wait a few seconds after wringing out the sponge before
dipping it into the Varathane, so that at least some of the bubbles can
disappear from the sponge before dabbing onto the piece.

GENTLY
stir the Varathane in your small plastic bottle or just GENTLY invert
the closed container once. Vigorous stirring or shaking causes bubbles that are difficult to remove. Pour a generous thumbnail-sized amount of Varathane
onto your palette. I use the top of a plastic food tub as a palette.

Dip the makeup sponge into the Varathane numerous times getting until the entire "generous thumbnail size" pool of Varathane on the palette is absorbed into the sponge. Then use the sponge to make numerous dabs (energetic dabs!) of varnish onto a section of your your clay and then lightly draw (i.e.,lightly drag) the sponge over the surface of the same section several times to the spread the varnish. The goal is a VERY thin and even coat (with subsequent additional thin coats). "Dab, Dab, Dab" and then "Draw, Draw, Draw" leaves many less air bubbles and adheres better than just drawing the sponge over the clay surface. I think that perhaps the varnish might adhere better with the dabs because the dabs break up the surface tension. I've noticed that applying it this way seems to improve the way the Varathane grabs the surface and diminishes the tendency for the varnish to bead up or give spotty coverage, especially in subsequent coats. In subsequent coats it can also be helpful to "Dab, Dab, Dab", WAIT 30 seconds, and then "Draw".

I've also noticed that if there are hundreds of tiny little "spots" of Varathane that are visible on a piece AFTER the "Dabs" but BEFORE the "Draw", then the mix of water and Varathane on the sponge is perfect and coverage is likely to be good. The absence of tiny little "spots" can be a clue that the percentage of the water to Varathane might need to be improved. Too little moisture makes for thick and heavy coverage, in which case add a tiny drop or two of water to the Varathane on the palette or initially wring out the sponge a bit less. Too much moisture and the Varathane won't adhere or coverage will be spotty and bare spots will be visible, in which case add a bit more Varathane to that already on the palette, or initially wring out the sponge more.

I use nitrile gloves to prevent potential skin irritation. I periodically add several
drops of water into the varnish on my palette if it no longer seems to
apply smoothly. I like to work with only a small amount of varnish on
the palette at a time so that it doesn't dry out before it's applied.

I live in a dry climate where it generally takes about 10-15 minutes for the varnished piece to dry to the touch. If it takes a lot longer to dry than this it could mean that it had been applied in too thick a coat, or one may simply live in a very humid area. I've found that using this method of application provides a very smooth and clear surface with no visible brush strokes. Inexpensive foam makeup sponges seem to work fine and when they start to shred just discard them. If your sponges seem to shred very easily you could try adding a drop or two of water to the varnish on your palette.

Varathane that is used fresh out of a can should be close to the consistency of slightly thicker than whole milk. Once the Varathane meets the slightly moist makeup sponge, the varnish applied to the surface of the piece should end up with an approximate consistency halfway between water and whole milk. The varnish in the can can thicken over time, especially if the top of the can is dirty or not properly closed. If it's thicker than whole milk, one can try increasing the percentage of water in the sponge or add a few drops of water to the varnish on the palette. Once a piece has been varnished and is dry to the touch I briefly heat-cure the varnish to make it shinier and decrease the drying time. To do this I let the varnished piece air dry to the touch first and then cure it in the oven 205-215F. (96-101C.) for 15 minutes. I let the piece air dry first for 10-15 minutes for several reasons. I don't want to risk marring the finish if I bump it getting it into the oven. I use a convection and am worried about any PC dust blowing inside might mar the still-wet varnish. I've also had some pieces that seemed to develop surface imperfections when prematurely heat cured.

If applying multiple coats of varnish I recommend letting each coat TOTALLY COOL from the oven curing first and then apply another THIN layer of varnish, heat cure again, etc. I've had some pieces develop an "orange peel" finish after varnish was applied before they were totally cool. I've read that without heat curing it can take up to a week for Varathane to reach maximum hardness. I usually use 2 (VERY THIN) coats of Varathane, heat setting after each coat, and 3-6 (VERY THIN) coats for pieces that require depth to the glossy shine, like the cherries.